Performing the Work
by GenevieveDusquesne
Summary: Okay, this takes place in a suburban high school, where a bunch of Phantomphiles want to put on Phantom as the musical that year, and they end up casting one of the Phantom's descendents as the Phantom.
1. Odd Brilliance of Andre and Firmin

Disclaimer: Hey, yeah, I don't own any of the original Phantom lyrics, I do own all these new characters you'll be seeing at 'Matteo Ricci High School.' Also, I actually happen to like both _Kiss Me Kate _and _Godspell, _they were just the first two musicals I thought of when writing this. I also do not own the song 'Hello' by Evanescence.

Northeast Ohio, Year 2003

"Come on, I know you can sing, Nelia," Liam said. He had me cornered against one of the walls in our school's courtyard. "You always used to in middle school."

"I wasn't any good, I was just having fun with it," I said. "Please. Don't make me."

"Look, Nelia," he said. "We're sort of stuck. You see, Sam and I are in this war with Mr. Rivers to see what musical we'll put on… but he wants us to

have a full cast assembled before he'll even listen to us…"

"Mr. Rivers hates me," I told Liam. "There is no way I'm singing in front of him."

"I know, I know, he's the biggest asshole in the business, which is why we have to beat him at his own game."

"Can't you just use someone that was in _Kiss Me Kate_?" I asked, referring to last year's school musical.

"Except if they were in _Kiss Me Kate_, they're going to want to be in _Godspell_, too."

"Well, I can't help you." Normally, I would have said that as I was walking away, with a wave behind me a few feet later. Now, though, I was trapped.

"Then I suppose we'll have to ask Lucy."

I looked at him in horror. "LUCY?" I asked. "LUCY is a total bitch!"

"I know, and we were already thinking she'd be a perfect Carlotta. But if you're so unwilling, maybe she'll have to be our Christine."

"You don't have to do that," I said. "What about Lourdes, she can sing!"

"She's Meg," he said. "She doesn't have the range for Christine."

"And you think _I _do? At least she's taking voice lessons!"

"I know what I remember," Liam said. "And I know what I heard just this past summer."

My blood turned cold. "What do you mean?" I asked. _When the heck would Liam have heard me sing this summer?_

"Remember on that canoe trip? You and Lourdes in the 'USS Evanescence?'"

"I d-d-don't know what you m-m-mean," I stammered. But I did. Lourdes and I, in our canoe, singing Evanescence songs… me, knowing each one by heart and imitating Amy Lee's voice perfectly.

"Does the word 'Hello' ring a bell?" he asked me.

I nodded, weakly. Oh, _how _I regretted that moment on the Tusc. now!

"So you can't deny your talent any more. And you can't deny how much you enjoy it."

"No, I can't," I said. "But that doesn't mean I want to sing in front of Mr. Rivers. Like I said, he hates me…"

"Then just sing for me and Sam. Come on. Herr Knarth's letting us use his classroom for our 'crazy phantom project,' as he calls it."

I followed him inside and through the halls, upstairs to where I had German class every afternoon. All the while I was thinking: _What if they laugh at me?_ I wasn't even a huge Phantomphile, like they were. I had the cast album at home, but that was really the only exposure I had to it. It would be heaven to go see it live, but whenever it came to Cleve., the closest city, it was always sold out by the time I read about it in the paper. So I was pretty much a know-nothing when it came to _Phantom_. And Liam and Sam were expecting me to be Christine?

"Hey," Sam said to us when we walked in the door. He was a senior to our sophomores, and one of the biggest guys at our school. He was like a giant teddy bear. "You convinced her, eh, Liam?"

"I said I would, didn't I?" he asked. He shook his head. "Honestly, Sam, you have no faith in me."

"Well, I'm still wondering if you're even right about her," I heard a voice say. I turned around, and in the corner saw a big nose and curly brown hair. "Tony?" I asked.

"Yep," Tony answered. "I have been recruited to be Raoul."

"I didn't even know you could sing," I said. Tony was the fourth member of my German class gang. His hobbies included Hungarian traditional dancing and testing my reflexes.

"I wasn't sure, either, but then Sam had me sing this 'We Have All Been Blind' thing, and I was pretty into it."

I laughed. I could just imagine Tony being 'into' a song like that. "So, I guess I should start, then?" I said. "Which song should I sing? The title song?"

"That would be excellent, Nelia, but I'm afraid our Phantom situation has not been figured out yet," Sam said.

"But I thought you'd be the-" I started.

"Me?" he asked. "No, Liam and I are Andre and Firmin. I couldn't give myself the main role, that would be wrong."

"So you guys have no idea who you'll cast as Erik?" I asked.

"Oh, I do," Liam said, "but I didn't realize his bus left so early. I'll talk to him tomorrow."

I left it at that, but looking back on it I probably _should_ have known better. With Liam, one should never leave anything up to chance.

"Come on, Nelia," Tony said. "Show us your pipes!"

"Fine," I said. "But you'll have to show me as well-- I'll sing 'Think of Me,' guys."

They nodded, and I began.

"Think of me

Think of me fondly

when we've said goodbye

Remember me

Once in a while,

please promise me you'll try

When you find

that once again you long

to take your heart back and be free

If you ever find a moment

Spare a thought for me"

I could feel their eyes transfixed upon me. I couldn't tell what they were thinking, so I continued on.

"We never said

our love was evergreen

Or as unchanging as the sea

But if you can still remember

Stop and think of me"

Of course, all that I was thinking about as I sang these words was someone who I hoped my love would last with, and who would someday care for me as well. So I poured my entire heart into the next few lines.

"Think of all the things

we've shared and seen

Don't think about the way

things might've been"

I could see Sam and Liam nodding, and even Tony was reluctantly acknowledging the fact that yes, Fräulein Grünfräulein had some talent after all.

"Think of me

Think of me waking,

silent and resigned

Imagine me

trying too hard to

put you from my mind

Recall those days

Look back on all those times

Think of the things we never knew

There will never be a day

when I won't think of you."

Those were the words I wanted to send to him, one of my muses. I imagined him hearing them as he walked from his last class to his dorm, thinking of sweet little Nelia back home. As I was thinking this, I saw Tony stand up to sing his lines. _Finally,_ I thought. _I can judge his voice just as he has judged mine._

"Can it be? Can it be Christine?" he sang, and then, shrugging, called out "Bravo!" We all laughed. He continued:

"Long ago,

it seems so long ago

How young and innocent we were

She may not remember me

But I remember her."

_My turn again, _I thought.

"Flowers fade

The fruits of summer fade

They have their seasons

so do we

But please promise me

that sometimes you will think…"

_Oh, shit, _I thought. _This part. _I had been singing these songs along with the soundtrack on my stereo for as long as I could remember, but this part was always a question mark: could I hit it or not? If I didn't, it would ruin all the good impression I had made on the guys, but I couldn't skip it. I went on.

"oh-oh-_oh_-oh-_oh_-oh-oh

oh-oh-_oh_-oh-_oh_-oh-oh

oh-_oh_-oh-_oh-_oh-_oh_-oh

oh-_oh_-oh-oh-

_OOOOOOOOO-_

of

me!"

There it was! I had done it!

"Gentlemen, we have Christine," Sam said. "Now if Liam can just come through on this Phantom, we can kick Rivers' ass."

I walked out of that classroom in the same spirit as the guys, but I was only thinking of my real-life Raoul, crazily thinking that somehow this might have reached him.


	2. The Curse of Being Me

Disclaimer/Note: I don't own any Phantom characters or songs, I do own all Matteo Ricci high characters.

I walked past Herr Knarth's room the following afternoon and heard singing. Not wanting to disturb anyone, I waited outside the closed door until the song was finished. I could tell that the singer, a very deep bass, was somewhere in the middle of 'Music of the Night'. I listened to the beautiful words fall around me.

"Softly, deftly, music shall caress you  
Hear it, feel it, secretly possess you  
Open up your mind,

Let your fantasies unwind  
In this darkness which you know you cannot fight,  
The darkness of the music of the night"

_Whoever he is, he's perfect, _I thought. _Just the right mixture of sadness and sensuality to play the Phantom. _ I couldn't wait until the end of the song so I could see who he was-- but at the same time I wanted the song to go on forever.

"Close your eyes -  
Start a journey through a strange new world

Leave all thoughts of the world you knew before,

Close you eyes and let music set you free,

only then can you belong to me."

_Maybe when I go in there we can practice one of the duets together, _I thought. _Phantom of the Opera or The Point of No Return…_

"Floating, falling, sweet intoxication  
Touch me, trust me, savour each sensation  
Let the dream begin,

Let your darker side give in  
To the power of the music that I write,  
The power of the music of the night"

And then the song was almost over, only the last two lines to go. I hoped they would not disappoint me.

"You alone can make my song take flight,

Help me make the music of the night."

_Yes_, I thought. I opened the door a crack so I could squeeze through. "Liam, you're a genius," I said. "You found the right guy."

At the back of the room I heard Lourdes Yucatan laughing.

"What?" a voice asked-- the same voice that had been singing. The same voice that had been haunting me for months now.

I whipped around. "You?" I asked. "Liam, how could you?"

"You seemed to like him enough a minute ago," he said.

"That was before I realized-- you picked _Dave Savarnich_?"

"Hey, I'm right here," Dave said. Dave, the _maniac, _that crazy _stalker_ who I had hated and feared for _months_, was to play the Phantom. And he was good at it. He could sing. _Why _could he sing? This wasn't the way it was supposed to be. In those teen movies, crazy stalkers are never singers. They always do less appealing things in their free time, like collecting action figures or playing chess or other dorky things.

"Yeah, he is," Sam said. "And so are you, Nelia… hey! The Phantom and Christine, right here… we can finally have you guys sing 'The Phantom of the Opera!' Like you wanted to do yesterday, remember, Nelia?"

Dave shrugged. "I'm up to it," he said, with a slight grin. "You, Nelia?"

"Fine," I said, gritting my teeth.

Liam started the music and I began, all the while cursing him.

"In sleep he sang to me  
In dreams he came  
That voice which calls to me  
And speaks my name  
And do I dream again?  
For now I find  
The phantom of the opera is there,  
Inside my mind"

_How perfect, _I thought. _What apt words for the one who has haunted every nightmare I have had since I met him five months ago._

Dave continued: "Sing once again with me  
Our strange duet  
My power over you  
Grows stronger yet  
And though you turn from me  
to glance behind  
The phantom of the opera is there  
Inside your mind"

I shuddered. _This is _not _what I want him thinking, _I thought. I continued: "Those who have seen your face  
Draw back in fear  
I am the mask you wear"

"It's me they hear" he sang. Damn, why did he have to have such a good voice? And now it was time for the duet. If it sounded good at all, I'd have Lourdes at me for weeks saying what a good couple we'd make, saying we'd end up married someday for sure-- but what could I do? I had to prove to him that I was actually a good soprano, that Liam hadn't made a mistake giving Christine to me, and untrained sophomore. And _Lucy_ was there, too, scowling whenever I sang. Lourdes had told me earlier that she was unhappy being Carlotta and would rather be Christine. I had to show _everybody_.

So we sang, together.

"Your/my spirit and my/your voice  
In one combined  
The phantom of the opera is there  
inside my/your mind"

Lourdes, and Lucy sang the next few lines together as our default chorus.

"He's there  
the phantom of the opera  
Beware the phantom of the opera"

And then I awaited my cues from Dave to sing the highest notes I have ever been faced with.

"Sing, my angel of music!" Dave sang.

"Aaaaa, ah ah ah ah ah ah aaaaaaaaaaaa"

"Sing…"

I went higher. "Aaaaa, ah ah ah ah ah ah aaaaaaaaaaaa"

"Sing, my angel…"

Still higher. "Aaaaa, ah ah ah ah ah ah aaaaaaaaaaaa"

"Sing for me!"

And now here they were, the toughest of them all: "Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa"

"Sing my angel of music!"

And again: "Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaa"

"Sing for me!"

The note I had never been able to hit. I swallowed, and opened my mouth yet again, just hoping I would make it: "Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!"

I did it. I did it, and then I collapsed onto Herr Knarth's desk. Dave rushed over to me. "Hey, are you all right?" he asked, touching my shoulder.

"I'm _fine_," I said. "You don't have to be so worried."

"Of course I'm worried," he said. "Geez, it was me telling you to sing."

"Don't ever get under the illusion that you have any power over me, Dave," I said. I stood up. "Well?" I asked Liam. "What do you want me to do now? Tony's here, we could do 'All I Ask of You', or I could do 'Wishing You Were Somehow Here Again'."

"You need to rest, Nelia," Sam said gently.

"No I don't," I said.

"Liam, Lucy, and I need to run through 'Prima Donna' anyway," he said as an excuse. "You just go home now."

"Fine," I said. I walked out the same way I had come in, but only then did I realize that I didn't have a ride. I usually carpool with one of the other girls from my neighbourhood, but if she didn't see me by three than she probably figured I had a band practice she didn't know about, and I was stuck until at least four-thirty, when my mother would finish all of her obligations to my baby sister and then realize I was missing.

_I guess that's it then, _I thought. _Stuck here until four-thirty. _I started down the stairs, but then heard running feet behind me.

There was Dave Savarnich. With car keys.


	3. Journey in the Mizuage

Disclaimer: I know this doesn't really have much Phantom stuff in it, but I still don't own it, and yes, I do say Oy vey, I'm not Jewish, but I have friends who are and I picked it up from them.

It was a fairly typical day by Northeastern Ohio in September standards: warm, sunny, just a bit of a breeze. I wasn't thinking of that, though, as I followed Dave Savarnich out to his car. I was only thinking of another day:

_Raining, windy, with no hope of sun. The day I had met this crazy maniac, back in May._

_Despite my predictions, though, it did eventually stop raining, after a two-hour bus ride took us all the way from C.F. to Sand. in north-central Ohio. Sand. is right on the lake, and home to one of the best amusement parks ever, according to my friends. I had personally never been there. But that's what we were there to experience, on this day long trip._

_When we got off of the bus I went with my friends: Lourdes, Liam, Willard the Annoying Science Nerd, and Joel my Algebra class partner. Also with us was one of Liam's other friends: Dave Savarnich. I had seen him around school but didn't really know him. He seemed like a loner, but a harmless one. Unremarkable. Everyone knew he went by Dave, but Lourdes kept calling him David. She was sometimes formal like that. _

_As we stood in line to pay for a locker to put all of our excess raincoats and CD players in, Dave and Liam entertained us with their thoroughly random ways of talking. I looked over this new guy, this 'older man' (as he was a sophomore to my freshman at the time) one more time and saw a certain attractiveness that I had missed before._

_I have this fear of roller coasters that I've never been able to cure. I can't even look at one without freaking out, so I've certainly never ridden on any besides the kiddy coaster that one time at a carnival that came to Ak. when I was six. That was the one that terrified me. But here we were, and with the exception of a few water rides and rides meant more for younger kids, roller coasters were all there were. _

_"The I.D. isn't that bad," Liam told me. "It's not even like a real roller coaster. It's just like a high-speed sky ride."_

_But looking at it I didn't see Liam's description at all. I saw something that tilted back and forth and would make me sick. "Oh, come on," he said. "Don't be such a baby." Lourdes gave me similar encouragement, but without sounding so mean. But then I saw her queue up with Liam-- of course she'd want to use today as a way to get closer to him._

_"You gotta ride," Dave said. "You can kill me if you don't like it." I swallowed and nodded, thinking,_ Dave, you're a dead man.

_"So, who are you gonna ride with?" Dave asked me when our group got closer to the front of the line._

_I looked at the other possibilities. Willard- noooo. Never. He'd probably develop a crush on me if I showed the slightest bit of niceness to him. He did on Lourdes. And for some reason I just couldn't picture my first roller coaster ride with the boring Joel Hammer. So it was Dave. "You, I guess," I said. "After all, you said I could kill you..."_

_He laughed. "If you're scared you can always... hold my hand."_

Now_ I was attracted. I took him up on the offer, for that ride, for every ride. At the end of the day we got back on those buses and I spent some time flirting (and trying to tell Willard to sit in the empty seat in front of me so I could talk to Dave easier)._

So what changed?_ I thought._ Why did you begin to hate him?

_When I got home and signed online, there was an e-mail waiting for me from Henry Ischmer-- my long-time crush. He was a college freshman in Ox., in southern Ohio, studying art history. He probably didn't even know about my crush, and just thought we were friends. But we had been e-mailing for a while, just to talk._

_In this particular e-mail he told my about how he was writing it while studying under a big tree on campus-- the way he wrote made it sound so beautiful, and I was once again completely in love with him and completely disgusted with myself for my flirtatiousness earlier. I took a long shower and tried to forget Dave Savarnich._

_I suceeded. But he didn't forget me. He would try to talk to me, between second and third periods, when I was at my locker (right across the hall from his religion class). After a few days of that (including once when he ended up following me downstairs when I could barely walk because I was wearing three-inch-tall wedge sandals and all I wanted to do was escape from him) I decided to just lug my first through fifth period stuff with me until lunch. I couldn't stand him. I couldn't stand the embarrasment in admitting that I had forgotten Henry for those few happy hours._

So now, yes, I cannot stand Dave Savarnich. My bit of embarrasment has transformed itself into full-blown fear and hate.

Which doesn't explain why I was getting into his car. Maybe I was tired of being afraid. Maybe I felt that, as Phantom and Christine, we needed to have _some_ connexion. Maybe I just didn't want to wait around until four-thirty for a ride. Whatever it was, I got into Dave's car: a big red Plymouth Montana minivan. The liscence plate said it was from P. county, which made me laugh: my history teacher, Mr. Leon, had said many times that P. County was full of "Blue-collar, redneck, white trash people." Certainly gave me another reason to never _think _about liking Dave. The back of the van was decorated with the name of a business (I assumed) and a Masonic symbol.

_Oy vey,_ I thought. _What am I getting myself into_?

"Mizuage," he said.

"Eh?" I asked.

"It's Japanese. It's what I call my car. Mizuage."

"What does it mean?" I asked.

"I'll never tell," he said, teasing me.

"Fine," I said. I would not allow myself to be interested in anything he did. If he wanted to give his car a freaky Japanese name and not tell me what it meant, it was _fine_ by me. But then something occurred to me. "You're Japanese?" I asked him. He didn't _look _Japanese, but who knows? Liam's Japanese, he just happens to look more Irish.

"No," he said. "I'm Polish and Slovakian. I just really love Japanese stuff."

"That's cool," I said. _Cool? _I thought. _Since when is that cool?_ But then my other voice chimed in and said: _Of course it's cool, you moron, who was the one who watched _Rurouni Kenshin _obsessively when it was on Toonami last spring? Doi._

He laughed. He had a nice laugh.

After the first stoplight, between W.L. road and S.C. road, he stepped on the accelerator like he was trying to kill it, and we were off like a rocket. "What the fuck?" I yelled. "This is a minivan, not some NASCAR thing!"

He laughed. "She _thinks_ she's a race car," he whispered, as if trying to keep 'Mizuage' from hearing. "I treat her as such."

I shook my head. _Why _was I doing this?

By the time I got home, I felt physically ill. My stomach can only take so many NASCAR-style jackrabbit starts. All I wanted to do was lie down with a cool glass of water and read the newspaper. Because that's what I do, being a news junkie and all. But when Dave stopped the car, he leaned over to me and said: "You're hilarious, Nelia. I like your voice." Then he opened my door for me and I slid out. As I passed by his half-open window (Mizuage's air-conditioning was on the fritz), I felt I couldn't leave without saying something.

"I like your voice too," I said, heart pounding with every second his car was there in my driveway for all the world (or at least all my super-snobby hometown) to see. "Thanks for the ride."

"No problem."

He drove away, and I knew relaxing was going to be totally out of the question.


	4. First Kiss?

Disclaimer: I do not own _Phantom, Kiss Me Kate,_ or _Godspell._ I also do not own the state of Ohio, Bob Taft does and I'm just using it (Thanks, your governorship!) And I do not own The Sims. (well, I do own a _copy_ of it, and a bunch of expansion packs for both the original and The Sims 2, but I don't own the _rights_ to the game I guess is what I should be saying. Which leads me to the fact that I _also_ own the movie cast album of _Phantom_ and the original book of _Phantom_, so that same logic I used for The Sims could be used to say I own _Phantom_ as well, except that, once again, no rights to it.) Other than that, please read and review, as 'No Going Back Now' as reviews, and this doesn't. It's lonely...

I suppose one good thing about being in a play like this instead of something like Kiss Me Kate or Godspell is that there isn't really any dancing. I mean, there are the ballet parts and everything, but there's none of those big ensemble dances like _Too Darn Hot_ or anything like that. Fact is, I cannot dance. I have slow-danced, sure, at Homecoming last year and at a couple of dances when I was in middle school, but that takes no skill whatsoever.

So really the only experience I would have had would have been when I was a volunteer at a hospital in Ak. last summer-- when I would dance if I was alone in an elevator. It was silly, my elevator dancing, and whenever it would stop on a floor I'd always move back to a ramrod-straight position. But I liked it.

Still, though, I'm glad that none of that really needs to come in handy for being Christine. Because the fact that my voice was dead exhausted from singing Phantom of the Opera with Dave was enough of a problem already.

"What the fuck is _up _with you, Nelia?" Liam asked me. We were in Knarth's room again, and I was attempting to sing 'All I Ask of You' with Tony. But I _kept messing up_. My voice just wouldn't do what it normally does.

"I don't know," I said. "Maybe I was straining too much yesterday, and..."

"Well, you need to be stronger if you're going to be Christine in this play," he told me. "You _do _remember last year, right? How _Kiss Me Kate_ went for a whole weekend, one preview show Wednesday, a performance Friday night, two performances Saturday and a Sunday matinee? If you can't do what Melissa did, then--"

"Excuse me, Liam?" I asked. "'If I can't do what Melissa did?' Melissa had _ten years_ of vocal training, and church choir, and the school choirs, and all that other stuff that _normal _musical theatre people do, and she was a_ senior_ last year! _You _chose me, it's _your_ fault that your Christine is an untrained sophomore and not as strong as Melissa. I can _get _better, just stop being such a Nazi, would you?"

"Now you see what you've gotten us into, Liam?" Lucy asked him. "Gawd. I told you from the beginning I would have made a better Christine. Talk about vocal training,_ I_ got it."

"Once again proving that she's the right girl to play Carlotta," Sam whispered to Tony and me. I giggled.

Liam shook his head. "Fine, fine," he said. "I admit it, I picked you, Nelia. But if you say you'll get stronger... fine. Let's at least get through this song... get Tony going good."

Darlene Sparrowaella, our Madame Giry, giggled. She had come onboard because she's another Phantomphile in the German gang, and Sam and Liam could not resist her pleas. However, as she soon proved to us, she cannot sing, and therefore is much better as Madame Giry than in any other part. I knew why she was giggling, though-- she had always thought Tony and I should go out. I'll admit, I do flirt with the guy a lot, but it will not work. One, he's my best guy friend, and two, we're working on a project for history together. Two things that you do not attempt to turn into love, in my opinion.

"From the top?" Tony asked.

"Yeah, sure, why not?" Liam asked. Tony nodded happily. I don't know why, but he really seemed to like singing this stuff. It was so different from the usual Green Day and White Stripes music I hear him raving about, but he seemed to be turning into just as much of a Phantomphile as Sam and Liam.

He began:

"No more talk of darkness,  
Forget these wide-eyed fears.  
I'm here,  
nothing can harm you -  
my words will warm and calm you.  
Let me be your freedom,  
let daylight dry your tears,  
I'm here,  
with you, beside you,  
to guard you and to guide you"

Let me say just one thing: Tony has _never_ had the best voice. His normal speaking voice just sounds sleepy, not something you'd trust singing music from one of the best plays of all time. So his was a decidedly different take on Raoul than on the cast album. He sounded a bit tired, a bit worn-out, not at all the strong Raoul. I didn't know _what_ Liam thought of it, and I didn't know what he'd think of my next attempt either.

" Say you love me  
every waking moment,  
turn my head  
with talk of summertime . . .  
Say you need me  
with you now and always  
promise me that all you say is true -  
that's all I ask of you"

As this isn't the highest song, I was okay. But I could still tell that I was not at my best, especially at the beginning of it. Liam shook his head and whispered something to Sam.

"Let me be your shelter,  
let me be your light  
You're safe:  
No one will find you  
your fears are far behind you," Tony sang. Oh, why did that part have to be so short? I needed _rest_. I needed as much rest as possible on my poor voice.

"All I want is freedom,  
a world with no more night . . .  
and you  
always beside me  
to hold me and to hide me"

I shuddered when I thought of exactly how much those words could mean to me. Freedom from my maniacal stalker, no more nightmares of him in Sand., and... Henry, protecting me. I could imagine what it would be like, to have him holding me. It wasn't like he hadn't ever done it. He considered me his friend..._not _his best friend. But he had hugged me. However, had we been Sims, they would have _definitely _been classified as friendly hugs, not romantic or even tender ones.

I hope that by the time we perform this play I'll be able to give those lines the emotion they deserve.

Tony began again: "Then say you'll share with me

one love, one lifetime . . .  
let me lead you from your solitude . . .  
Say you need me  
with you here, beside you . . .  
anywhere you go,  
let me go too -  
Christine,  
that's all I ask of you . . ."

Those lines from Tony's lips instead of Henry's were enough to kill me.

"Say you'll share with me

one love, one lifetime . . .  
say the word  
and I will follow you," I sang. Then he joined in and we sang together: "Share each day with me,

each night, each morning . . ."

And then me: "Say you love me"

And him: "You know I do"

And together again: "Love me, that's all I ask of you"

Then we both stopped. "It says you're supposed to kiss," Liam said, looking at the script.

"Ooo!" Darlene squealed.

"We're _not_ kissing," I said. "Not here. Not now. Not in front of all of you."

"Then how will we ever do it onstage, Nee?" Tony asked. "Come on, it can't be that bad."

"Ooo!" Darlene squealed again.

"Fine," I said. I walked over and give him a quick peck-- on the lips, but it lasted only a fraction of a second.

"Come on, you guys!" Sam yelled. "You think that's how Raoul and Christine kissed? You guys are supposed to be in_ love_! Not... whatever _that_ meant!"

"This is the first rehearsal of the song, Sam," Lourdes said. "Let them have some time to get used to the idea."

"If they get any _more_ used to the idea, they'll be magnetically repelled," Liam said. "Come on. Show us what it really..."

_I don't want my first kiss to be an actress' kiss,_ I thought. _And I don't want it to be with Tony. I want it to be with _Henry_, and I want it to be_ real. _Can't they understand that?_

But before I could say any of that, Tony's lips mashed up against mine. And they would not move. I actually didn't mind it too much-- it wasn't like he was trying to stick his tongue in my mouth or anything-- but it was still so weird. It's like, one moment, there I am, just standing there, and the next there's a _guy _in my face.

"There, we kissed," Tony said. "Was it romantic enough for you?"

"Passable," Liam said, which I thought was a pretty big word for someone who's still waiting for his _own_ first kiss. "Oh, go on, finish the song."

So we did. We went through all of post-trance stuff without a hitch (though I still felt weak), and then the song went onto the reprise. Liam rushed press the stop button, but Dave started singing before he could.

"I gave you my music . . .  
made your song take wing . . .  
and now, how you've repaid me:  
denied me and betrayed me . . .  
He was bound to love you  
when he heard you sing . . .  
Christine ...  
Christine ..."

At this point, Tony and I were supposed to be singing from 'offstage', but we were both in too much of a trance to do so. So Dave just glared at us and kept on singing.

"You will curse

the day you did not do

all that the Phantom asked of you."

"Ah... that was unexpected, Dave," Liam said when he finished.

"Oh? I expected it to be expected," Dave said, in a much different mood than the one he had been using to sing. He shrugged. "Nelia, do you need another ride?"

"Ah, sure," I said. My mom hadn't figured out last night that it hadn't been Katie (my dear neighbour) who had given me a ride home. Hopefully she wouldn't figure it out tonight, either. Lourdes gave me an astonished look. I held up my fingers in the 'universal phone gesture', in a silent promise to call her and explain later as I walked out of the classroom.

"You know," Dave said, "that kiss didn't really count."


End file.
